Simon Zablotsky, South Launceston, Tasmania

Strait
Huon pine, blackwood, MDF
1950 h x 1300 w x 300 d

The shelves are made of quilted Huon pine which was hand picked after spending hours at a mill near Strahan on Tasmania’s west coast. It is the most amazing quilting I have ever seen. In order to create the wave forms a former was designed to set up the geometry and the shelves were pressed in a two part former constructed from MDF. Prior to forming, the boards were carefully selected and resawn into laminations, which were then passed through a thickness sander. AV Syntec Urea Formaldehyde 203 glue was my choice of glue as it allows some flexibility and gives a seamless joint. The Huon was selected in this case for its significance as a boat building timber in a historical sense. The buoys are made of highly figured blackwood. Also handpicked from a specialist timber supplier, Paul Noordanus in Deloraine. Solid timber is used for the buoys, which act as book dividers. Other materials used for the dividers are leather as protective strips and stainless steel is used for the screw and pin mechanism which allows you to slide the divider to any position. The vertical bars and the shelf pins are made of solid stainless steel rods. The pins intersect the bars and the shelves are slid onto the pins to create a floating appearance without the clutter of external fittings and excessive joinery. The headframe is made from solid Huon pine from the same boards as the shelves. The corners are handcut fingerjoints and West System epoxy glue was used for strength in this application. There is a groove routed into the back of the frame which houses a stainless steel bracket that has numerous fitting holes drilled and tapped to allow easy fitting into any wall surface. Once the bracket is fitted to the wall, the shelf unit can be placed over the bracket then the fitting screws are passed through holes in the front face and finally capped with two stainless steel plugs. All wood components have been coated with one coat of Livos Priming Oil, and four coats of Livos Ardvos Oil.

Concept
Strait is inspired by Bass Strait. It is a fascinating stretch of water, which is both beautiful and mystifying. It has sustained some, exhilarated others and has proven deadly to those who have underestimated its moods.
The Strait wave like shelves give movement to the piece. As in a turbulent sea each set of waves is different to the other, whilst the dividers with spheres symbolize the buoys at sea being tossed to and fro. The use of Huon pine with stainless steel masts and fittings add to the nautical flavour of the piece. These materials pay homage to the strong maritime history of Tasmania and its links to Bass Strait. Strait was designed with the intention of creating an elegant bookshelf that was free of the bulk and consumptive use of timber, it is strong and has a simple fixing system allowing it to be mounted to any wall. Strait can also be used to partition off a space as a dividing wall (café, restaurant, wine bar etc) and hold other items such as bottles of wine and your favourite books. The book dividers slide along the slots between the shelves so that the books can be placed leaning either left or right adding an element of whimsy to the piece, its light airy appearance and contemporary style place strait comfortably in the architectural buildings of today.

Photos: Philip Kuruvita